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Elvis Andrus. That is all you need to know about the Texas Rangers shortstop position. But I am going to tell you more. So, please, don’t stop reading!! Elvis is about to start his third year as the Texas Rangers shortstop, and so far he has been amazing as a young shortstop. In his rookie season, Elvis had 22 errors, and his fielding percentage was almost at the league average (.968, average was .972). His range was really good, and it is only getting better. His batting average was .267. In his second season, he had a little dip in his offense (no HR’s for the whole season and his batting average was .265) but his defense got better. His fielding percentage was above the league average (.976, average was .973) and he only had 16 errors. He played in 145 and 148 games in his first two seasons. I expect Elvis to be better than he was his first two seasons in 2011. I think he will re-find his homerun swing, and I think he will steal a whole lot more bases than he did in 2010 (32). I look for Elvis to have 5-8 HR’s and 40+ steals in 2011. I also look for him to walk more. I think we have a guy who is going to be a staple for the Rangers for a very, very long time.
And that brings us to the two guys slated to back him up for the 12-15 games that he will be on the bench. Andres Blanco was a surprise at second last season when Kinsler went down, and I trust him to do a good job if a situation arises where he would have to play an extended period of time at ss this season. Blanco was a late pickup during 2010’s spring training because Khalil Greene never showed up to camp. He turned out to be a really good pickup. He got into 68 games and batted .277. Not bad for a fill in guy off the bench. I look for him to get a lot less playing time this season, but I also think that he will be ready if he is needed.
Of course the other guy who will be backing up Elvis did happen to win a gold glove at that position in the 2009 season. I will not spend too much time on Young since he is a backup at every position. Hmm, maybe I will write a piece about a super utility guy at some point. We will see.
So, there are your 2011 shortstops in a nutshell. Up next: 3rd base.
